Rule Number 32: Enjoy The Little Things.

I saw Zombieland this weekend, and it taught me something.. I don't have it so bad, infact I have it fucking great. Sometimes I try to write things here and it's like.. 'Hmm what can I bitch about' but that is just silly, I mean I have nothing against bitching but it's so much better when it's real and raw. When you really feel it. I'm getting of topic, so this movie is killer, it's about this reclusive loser loner kid who drinks mountain dew and plays World of Warcraft gets his 'reality' shattered and finds out the entire world has been taken over by Zombies. Along the way he runs into other humans and hilarity ensues. So this kid has a list of rules on how to survive Zombieland, certain things like Cardio, keep your cardio up and you can always outrun the zombies, or the double tap, which means always shoot twice, and make sure they're dead. Well my personal favorite was rule number 32: Enjoy the little things, which the kid learned from a wreckless blood loving zombie killer named Talahase (no one went by their given names due to the short expectancy of life and the attachment reasons) which basically revels in the sheer art of killing zombies in unique ways..Or aquiring a Twinkie before it's expiration date. But in my own twisted mind it applies to our reality as well. I enjoy the little things, in my own version of Zombieland, such things like hearing Seth's crazy laughs, or just random singing. Or the way Nadya will suddenly hide and pounce out of corners to attack me, which she's done many times. Or spending the night in just playing RPG's for hours on end, letting myself completely drift of into alternate realities, and burst out laughing at the dialogue. I'm currently 50 hours into SMT: Persona 4 and it's the best SMT game I've played yet. I put 120 hours into SmT: Persona 3 until I completed it, just to give you an idea how insanely dense these games are. I know it sounds extremely dorky, but I love it, these are extremely thought out story lines and plots, with well developed characters that you just can help but love. See? Give me room to talk about it and I could do so forever. Anyways these little things keep me sane.. Keep me going in a sense, making Zombieland a little less of a burden to deal with. Oh and on an end note the movie is worth seeing to, for all of those who care.

Peace,
Dal.

Hitchcock.

Fall is almost here, I can see the leaves changing, and it rained for most of the day. I like how on days like this the clouds become so big and dark. It adds many dimensions to the every day lull. This morning I woke up and Hitchcock had died. He was a dove Nadya and I found on our back porch, I think he must have been attacked by one of the neighbor cats. I was just smoking a cigarette like I usually do, and there he was just sitting at the base of the porch all crippled and sad looking. I was struck with a moral dilemma, and couldn't really decide if I should just leave him there, or take him in and try to revive him. Nadya came out and I showed her, and she instantly brought it food and wanted to help. After that it was an easy decision because obviously we were going to try to help. So, we found a box and made a bed for him, put a dish with bird feed and some water. Honestly for a while there it seemed like he was doing so much better, he was cooing, and sitting up properly, and I actually felt like even though it was so little, I was doing something good. I came up with the name Hitchcock, like in the director of the famous movie about birds. Nadya liked it so it stuck. Yesterday he wasn't doing so well, and so we decided to take him to a animal shelter nearby and see if they could help, but yesterday was Sunday and these places are closed on Sunday. So we were going to take him today, but when I saw him this morning he was laying dead in his makeshift home/box. I honestly felt terrible, because he didn't make it. In a short amount of time, I felt I had a bit of a bond with that little birds life.

"Great Shipwreck Of Life"

That title pretty much sums it up, I took it from the latest IAMX album, The Kingdom Of Welcome Addiction, I highly recommend it. It's a song about things not quite working out the way you expected. At least that's what I've gotten from it, I wish I could report that things are going well, but they're not. Now, I've also drawn this picture, hopefully it'll shine some light into the situation. I don't know where things are going right now, I'm feeling fairly horrible, perhaps this weekends road trip through southeastern Utah will help. We're searching for ghosts, but maybe I'll also learn to see some ghost that haunt me on a daily basis.

Vicariously I live while the whole world dies.

Brushes with death often stir people to re evaluate their lives, what seems to be your last few moments of life stream vivid images of everything and nothing. I write this because, I just spoke with a guest here at the hotel who visibly is shaken and depressed to the core. Last night there was a huge thunderstorm, and as he told me what happend, you could see his eyes welling up with tears, the fear stricken across his face. I offered as much comfort as I could, but really there isn't much to say. I've known this guest for years, can't say I particularly like the guy, but I honestly felt bad for him. He explained to me that last night as he was flying into Salt Lake International, the pilot told all passengers after 7 circles and 3 attempts to land, (one attempt just 200 feet above the airport, resulting in the wind nearly slamming the plane into the ground)they'd be flying to a nearby airport in Idaho. Halfway to that airport, the pilot then announced that they wouldn't be able to make it to Idaho, because they were running out of fuel, so they turned around and litterally had to glide the plane on empty into the airport here in SLC. The way the guest described it, everyone on the plane was screaming, panic stricken, absolute chaos. I just felt for the guy, I once had a brush with death, many many years ago, while I was still in my teens, some people say that it's a second chance to see the world differently, or that there was some sort of higher power who decided that it wasn't my time yet. Well I think that's pure bullshit. Chaos ensues, and the cards fall where they may. A plane went down over the atlantic, from Brazil to Paris, there were no survivors, aparantly 'god' has a dark sense of humor.

DRAG ME TO HELL

Sam Raimi co-wrote and directed what I believe is the best horror movie to have come out in years, not only that, he complete re instated himself as a mastermind in what he does best, splat stick. A term coined from the old Evil Dead era, a combination of slap stick style humor and bloody good horror. Not registering with you? Go rent, Evil Dead, Evil Dead 2, Army Of Darkness, or Dead Alive, and you'll see what I mean.

Drag Me To Hell, opens with a booming and powerful blast literally from hell, and ends the same way, and I left the theatre grinning from ear to ear reviling in what I had just witnessed, the story seems ridiculous at first, a loan officer, Christine Brown, seems to be having an off day, troubles with co workers, a boss who won’t give her the promotion she deserves, and when an old gypsy woman comes in to beg for an extension on her loan, Christine decides to show her boss she has what it takes to do the hard job, and turns the poor little woman away. This is where the film suddenly explodes, and you realize you’re in for a ride. While her boss recognizes her and lets her know what a good job she did, aside from having the security drag the little old gypsy lady out of the bank, she feels confident and proud of herself, she chose her career and her future, yeah she could have helped her out, and extended her loan, let her keep her house, it was her call after all. I think most of us have to face these sort of moral choices throughout life, and that is what makes this whole scenario so familiar, what we don’t tend to remember or think much about is that there is a consequence.

As for the preformances, everyone is spot on, and I have to say that Alison Lohman showcased her range of talent, not only her emotional range but also her physical, the way Raimi tosses her around is brutal and unforgiving, so props to her, and Justin Long co stars as her loving supportive boyfriend, he's great in this except his character is alittle one dimensional, this is all about Alison Lohman, hopefully she'll get the recognition she deserves.

Perception is everything, and what seems small and insignificant can become utterly consuming and terrifying in a flash, and for poor Christine, she was cursed to hell within the next three days. What follows is a masterpiece of pure horror, and humor mixed together to create the creepiest, tingling moments of pure suspense, letting your imagination run wild with speculation. There are also absolutely grotesque stomach wrenching moments, where I imagine Raimi and co, laughing hysterically at themselves, particularly the gumming… Ew.. I mean, what Raimi does with this, is amazing, instead of using the gallons and gallons of fake blood, like in previews Evil Dead movies, he keeps his PG-13 rating by using the most unusual ways to gross you out, I used to believe that no horror movie in this era could pass with a PG – 13 rating, I mean The Ring being an exception, but Drag Me To Hell proves that it can be done. Raimi fans will be glad to see all the nods to the past, and like I did, feel the blood rush inside knowing that he still has it in him. After the last Spiderman movie, I’d all but lost hope. . I can’t remember the last time I watched a movie, where I laughed hysterically one moment, then was curled up clutching my wife’s hand the next moment, in complete fear of what will happen next. New comers will have many wtf moments, but I think it will only connect the old with the new, do yourselves all a favor and see this movie, it’s the best thing I’ve seen all year.

ID 2009

My avatar 2009

SRTOGS:EF

Super Robot Taisen OG Saga: Endless Frontier, try saying that one ten times fast, I dare you! This is by far one of the longest game titles I've ever seen, with Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner 2: Raidou Kuzunoha versus King Abaddon, being another exception, although also a game published by Atlus! But I digress, to keep this in the vein of this new and refreshing JRPG, I'll try to explain to you why I like this game, and make a pathetic attempt to not sound like a pervert.. *ahem* This game is definitely not for everyone, and first and formost I'd like to say the amount of blatant sexual innuendos and fan service shots, is over the top to say the least. Now if that is your thing then this is the game for you. Now you're probably thinking to yourself, 'yeah, but why would I buy this game, since there are like a million other jrpgs on the DS?' this is very true, there has been an explosion of jrpgs lately for this little system, but it's a good thing in my mind. Well, what really makes this game stand out, is it's battle system, and it's light hearted humorous story, and for me this was a breath of fresh air. The battle system really does do something new, while it still plays out in turn based attacks, it utilizes a combo system, that is almost rhythm based, there is a intensity and speed to the battles that I really love and enjoy. It's a juggling act really, and you'll find yourself adjusting the skills and order of things in your party to perfectly string together a perfect combo, in order to get bonus xp, and also to fill up your gauge bar. Now once the gauge bar is full, you'll then max out and be able to pull of a overdrive move that really is amazing to watch. Aside from the refreshing game play, the rest of the game plays like your typical jrpg, with a world map, dungeons, various towns with inns where you rest and upgrade etc.. So far I've played 10 or so hours into the game, and it's held more than my attention with its beautiful roster of characters, sorry perverted, awesome mech designs, innovative game play, and pure tongue in cheek sillyness. I wanted to give this little game some credit before it's washed away in the sea of DS shovelware (Yes I'm looking at you Dora the Explorer) Show some love to your underdog unknown developers and pick up this game. On a last note, obviously this is a game for a niche group of creepy otakus, you know who you are. But who knows, this game just might appeal to more people if they give it a try. ;D

All in all I give the game 4/5

While not perfect it's definitely changes things up and does something different.

Thanks Atlus, keep the good games coming!